John h



(No Model.)

J. H. LYNCH.

PAPER FASTBNER.

No. 470,383. Patented Mar. 8, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. LYNCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PAPER-FASTE N ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 470,383, dated March 8, 1892. Application filed June 11,1891- Serial No. 395,892. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. LYNCH, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper- Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in an improved gumfastener for holding sheets of paper together. If pins or other stiff fasteners are used for this purpose the papers are necessarily perforated and are apt to tear. They take up more space, do not file neatly, and must be filed so that the fasteners shall not all lie one over the other or the top papers will slide off, and in order to see the part of the under of two papers so fastened which lies about the point where the fastener is inserted the fastener must be removed since it holds the upper sheet in actual contact with the lower.

his the object of my invention to provide a handy fastener which will not tear the papers nor inconveniently.increase the thickness where they are attached, nor hold the sheets in actual contact.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a partof this specification, Figures 1, 2, 8, 4:, 5, and 6 show different sizes and shapes of my fastener. Fig. 7 shows a bill and a check attached by one of them.

The fastener is made of a strip or sheet of paper, linen, or other suitable material. Fig. 1 shows it in shape of an arrow-head. The

, whole of the point is coated on one side with gum or other adhesive substance, as shown by the shading, the rest being ungum med. It is creased or folded once along the vertical axis, shown by the dotted line, with the gummed side out, and when it is intended to be used the ungummed tip is held between the thumb and forefinger, the gum moistened with the lips or otherwise, and the upper fold stuck to one paper and the lower fold to the other, as shown in Fig. 7. hen the papers are to be separated, the fastener is cut or torn along the fold. To render this more easy, holes may be out along this line, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a modified form and larger size, suitable for fastening vouchers and other large papers. It is a cross, the cross-arms and base of the upright being pointed, the upright being wider above than below the cross-arms, and then wider near the upright than their extremities. The upright is pierced near its top with two holes, which are placed symmetrically so as to register when the fastener is folded. These are put in so that the fasteners and attached papers can be hung on a peg or string with others in a ribbon. The whole of one side, except the part of the upright above the cross-arms, is coated with gum.

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 show modified forms and are gummed and folded, as shown by the shading and dotted lines. It is unnecessary to describe the particulars, as they are only a few of many forms which the fastener may assume. The form is not material. The essential point is that the gummed and un gummed surfaces shall lie substantially symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis, indicated by dotted lines, along which the strip is folded, in which case the upper fold will exactly cover the lower fold. The fingers can hold the fastener securely at ungumm'ed parts, and no portion of the inner surfaces are exposed when the gum is moistened; but of course no strict exactness in these particulars is necessary.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The improved paper-fastener consisting of a strip of suitable material, preferably paper,

one surface of which is plain and the other surface partly gummed and partly ungu m med symmetrically on each side of a longitudinal axis, the strip being creased so as to fold along the longitudinal axis with the partlygummed surface outside, so that the gummed and ungummed parts, respectively, register, substantially as described.

Subscribed by me in New York city, New York, this the 9th day of June, 1891.

JOHN H. LYNCH.

. WVitnesses:

THOMAS EWING, J12,

G. M. BARNHART. 

